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Professional hunter Marc Warnke and renowned survival expert Callie Russell,  guide Mansal Denton, a struggling tech entrepreneur with a complicated past, on an 8-day bow hunting expedition for elk, the most elusive prey in the wilderness. Using Marc’s team of trained pack goats to carry supplies, the trio hike deep into the Sawtooth Mountains. Nothing goes as planned… Shot on gorgeous Super 16mm film, this introspective documentary tracks the complex trio, as the trials of the journey surface their foremost wounds, forcing them to grapple with the deep mystery of mortality. Quietly profound and unexpectedly moving, the film takes the viewer on an epic, life-changing journey into the breathtaking and treacherous mountains of Idaho. 

Synopsis

Subjects

  • At the time of the hunt Mansal was a 28-year-old novice bow hunter and mental performance expert, whose work had been featured in VICE, Entrepreneur, and Forbes. Growing up mixed-race in a predominantly white neighborhood, and at age 18, he stole rare historical documents from a history museum where he was employed. He sold those documents on the internet to make money to pursue a girl in Switzerland whom he met online. When he returned to the U.S. he was arrested and eventually sentenced to 8 years in prison. During his incarceration, he had to explore his feelings of inadequacy, sexual identity, and masculinity. Upon his release, he founded the website Nootropedia, which was an educational resource to help people improve mental performance. In his studies on the human brain, he focused on trauma stored inside the body. He recognized that the same trauma applies to animals and committed himself to only eating animal products that he killed himself. His vision is to use hunting as a way to rediscover something that he believes has been lost in modern society.

  • Marc Warnke is a 50 year-old father of two sons and a professional hunting guide, with 27 years of experience. He leads hunting expeditions around the world and has been featured in Trophy Hunter magazine, Eastman Hunting Journal, and the European TV series, “Twin Hunter.” He is also an expert on all things goats and has started a business (packgoats.com) that sells equipment for, and is an educational site, about goat herding and care. He has a team of goats he uses to pack in gear on deep country hunting expeditions - allowing him to go further and stay longer in the wilderness than other hunters. Marc’s deep love of animals and nature is a fascinating juxtaposition from his occupation as a professional hunter.

  • At the time of filming, Callie was a 30 year-old wilderness survival expert. As a result of tragic events from her childhood she was led to explore the meaning of death and her relationship to it. For the past 8 years Callie has lived off the grid - hunting, foraging, and growing all of the food that she consumes. Until last year she owned a herd of goats that she shepherded across the Idaho and Montana landscape. She lives on five thousand dollars a year, which she earns conducting wilderness survival classes for at-risk teenagers in the summers, teaching basket weaving at craft fairs, and as a camp hand and guide for the hunts that Marc leads. Soon after filming, Callie was chosen to compete on the 7th season of the History Channel’s survivalist reality series, “ALONE.” The series has over 2 million viewers and she  was a fan favorite, and finished second in the competition.

The Crew